Ethan’s FIRST birthday party!

We had such a great time celebrating Ethan’s first birthday with family and friends.  He loved his smash cake and even shared with those that wanted a bite.  Beware of picture overload! The camera was hit or miss with all the fun we had and the lighting from room to room.  Thank you to all our friends and family that came over to help celebrate this little boy! A special thank you to my sister and mom for helping me make, cut, sew, hang and decorate for the party!            

Some firsts..

I realize Ethan is wearing the same outfit in all of these beginning pictures, however, slacker me does not remember if they were all on the same day.  I have to do better!!

This was Ethan’s first time trying a sippy cup, his first wagon ride and the first time he held his bottle on his own.  He still needs a little help with that if the bottle is full. First time shopping with mommy!First time at Publix in the “car” cart. First time in a NFL jersey. Please forgive the quality of some of these photos.  My iPhone tends to fail me sometimes.

From my phone

Taking the idea from my sister… I know the quality isn’t perfect, but I think the subjects are!

Three month photo shoot

I’m so very excited to be going through the months of photo sessions of Ethan with my sister.  She is a great photographer and I think I have a pretty great subject for her to use.  We did a joint effort this time, in that, we took the big/little kids along with us so they could play at the park while Ethan posed for Aunt Michelle (hence the reason there isn’t too many photos).

I love all of these pictures! I can’t wait for the six month photo session.  Although, I’m not wishing my baby to grow up. 

Oh, day care!

Today was my first day back to work and boy was I dreading it.  I knew the day would come but when the reality hits, it’s just no fun.  I am going to miss being home with my sweet baby boy.  The past twelve weeks have been so much fun, productive and memorable.  Babies grow up too fast and you can only enjoy their littleness for so long.  I brought Ethan to day care once a week for the past two weeks although it was not for an entire eight hours.  Doing that definitely helped ease me into today but I still didn’t like it.  Thanks to all of my family and friends for the words of encouragement, we all survived the eight hour work/day care day.  Ethan was a lot happier to go to day care then I was to go to work. Don’t you just love his smile? I think it’s one of the best ones I know!

Ethan’s baptism day

The day was perfect, well all except for the weather.  It was a dreary day but that didn’t stop us from celebrating our sweet boy.  Ethan wore our family baptismal gown and added to the list of family members to carry on the tradition.  I am so grateful for traditions, they mean so much.  He was awake for the whole service and when Reverend Ripley was baptizing him he whimpered very softly almost as if to say, “ooh that was cold".”  It was so cute and no crying (sorry it’s blurry).Doesn’t he look so sweet? We celebrated the occasion afterward, at the Grant’s with a nice lunch and some more family time. The weather was not very cooperative for picture taking but knowing everyone was there for this special reason was just as memorable.  My sister had this cake made for our little man and it sure was tasty. Our family has been so blessed with Ethan and we thank everyone for coming to share in such a special day for us.   God is good!

Two months old

My sweet boy! You are growing like a weed.  I completely skipped out on your one month post.  It came and went so fast.  There is not a whole lot that has changed however, so I’m not that far behind.  You are a momma’s boy right now.  Grandpa says, you have an internal blue tooth device that goes off if I get too far away.  There have been a few times that you have been sound asleep and when I leave the room you wake up instantly.  You love your momma and that’s all that matters.  You have done well with the Zantac twice a day and I think I could safely say all of your symptoms are controlled.  I have forgotten, just one time, to give you both doses and you did seem to be a bit more fussy that day.   Dr. Nordby suggested we stick to nursing still every three hours in order to give the Zantac time to work.  You are smiling so much right now and starting to coo quite often. I just love it and your smile melts my heart.  Your big sister adores you and helps out with anything she can when it comes to you.  Her favorite is to help get the diaper and wipes when we change you.  She wants to be a part of everything and I couldn’t ask for a better helper. 

We all love you so much, my boy, and I know the months are going to continue to fly by like they did with your sister.  I will cherish every moment of your baby phase, each and every month.  We continue to pray for a healthy, blessed life for you, Ethan, and will do all we can to provide that for you.

Two month well check

Time has already flown by and it’s time for Ethan to start getting shots. How can it be?  I truly feel like I was just here with Kendall.  Ethan was not a fan of the scale.  These were the only pictures I could get on the scale.  I had to pick my sweet boy up quickly and make him feel better.  Dr. Nordby had all good things to say about Ethan.  One of the concerns I had was with him grunting, mainly at night.  I told her about a few things I had noticed and she asked me if I had noticed a couple things as well. Turns out, he has a mild case of reflux.  I would have never expected it.  We left the office with a prescription for Zantac to see if it will help. Definitely not the best quality of pictures but I had to get what I could when I wasn’t holding Ethan.  He wasn’t the happiest patient at this visit.  He’ll get used to it though.  He looks happy here but little did he know the shots were coming.  There was little to no crying from our big boy and the most of it came when the needle was removed, after the medicine went in his little leg.                                                           Height: 23 1/4 inches – 50th percentile

                                                           Weight: 14.3 pounds – 90th percentile

                                              Head circumference: 41 centimeters – 95th percentile

Ethan’s photo shoot

Who can pass up a photo shoot with Aunt Michelle? Not me! I had to have a newborn session with my baby boy as I did with my baby girl.  Ethan was twenty one days old and did fairly well.  He wanted to stay awake so he got a little fussy at times but he gave us some good pictures. 

I love newborn pictures with just a diaper.   We used a few blankets and baskets, even a chair to pose this little cutie, although we aren’t the most creative baby posers.  Enjoy the pictures! One of my favorites!! Can you see his little smirk?Ethan had to show off his Carolina onesie before it is too small. Don’t worry, I have a Michigan one too, its just a bigger size. We’re a house divided!So sweet! Me and my son, love him.I always love all of the pictures my sister takes of my babies.   These are just a select few. Thank you so much for capturing Ethan in his newborn stage.  We’ll be seeing more of you along the way.    

Ethan’s first bath

Ethan’s umbilical cord fell off on February 13.  There was still an area that was healing so he didn’t get to have a real bath until today.  Of course he wasn’t too sure about it with the initial feel of the water but once he was adjusted, he really enjoyed it.  He was so relaxed and his favorite part was having his hair washed.  I love bathing my tiny boy, it’s such a sweet time. I didn’t get the greatest picture of him in his towel because he started to get upset with being cold. But isn’t he just so adorable?

Off we go…

To MUSC! We had an appointment for a routine post birth visit today.  Remember the bruise I spoke of in the previous post?  Well, it became quite red, warm and swollen basically overnight.  Our pediatrician consulted with another doctor in the practice and the consensus was for us to take our little man to the Medical University of SC Children’s Hospital.  The doctor’s suspected a blocked/infected tear duct and that he would need IV antibiotics and possibly a probe procedure to drain the area.  I know this condition is common in young children but not my FIVE day old.  I was nervous but knew it was for the best. We arrived at the MUSC ER department around 2:30pm and there we sat until around 8:30pm when they moved us to our room.  Ethan was a trooper and thankfully won’t remember all he had to endure, although his momma might.

This was a picture, Monday night in the ER and then our sweet boy in his hospital crib.I didn’t take a lot of pictures in the hospital, as 1) I did not like the hideous yellow gown, 2) I did not want to remember the IV in his arm and the board his arm was taped to, 3) there wasn’t much to take pictures of – no pretty view from a window, and Ethan didn’t do much but sleep and 4) our little man looked like he had a black eye until day three. 

Here’s Tuesday.   He woke up with a cute little smile and I caught it just in time!  The ophthalmologist came in Tuesday evening and evaluated Ethan’s eye.  The area to the tear duct was not any better and when he left the room, he said, “We’ll see you tomorrow at 11:30am for the probing procedure.”  Not what I wanted to hear.  We were told the best way for this to be done on an infant his age, was to keep him awake and hold him down for a 10-15 minute procedure. I couldn’t imagine how this was going to be done but I was trying to accept it.  Prayers were being said from SC to Michigan to Georgia for our sweet boy! And Wednesday!!!!! Prayers worked! No more knot, no more redness, no more swelling.  We even got a white shirt to put on instead of the yellow gown.  The antibiotics worked! There was nothing to do any probing to.  The doctors were surprised at how fast it cleared up.  It literally cleared overnight as fast as it became infected overnight.  I. COULDN’T. HAVE. BEEN. HAPPIER!!!

Doesn’t his sweet face look as if he’s thinking, “enough is enough!”  He slept very well while we were in the hospital but between all the vital sign checks, doctors and nurses poking and prodding, and multiple diaper changes from antibiotic use, we were ready to go home.

When the ophthalmologist came to the room at 11:25am on Wednesday, he was ready, with tools in hand to do the probe procedure.  When he left the room at 11:40am, he said, “okay, there is no justification to do the probing and the area shouldn’t become blocked anymore.  We will keep him here overnight to evaluate post antibiotic use and you can go home in the morning.”  Those words made my day!  We were at MUSC for three and a half days with IV antibiotics every eight hours and left with a prescription for oral antibiotics for seven days.

It was nice to bond with my son, just me and him in that hospital room but boy, did I miss Kendall and Ryan and my bed! Ryan came back and forth to hang out but also had to work and help to keep Kendall on her schedule.  I am so very thankful the antibiotics treated this infection and I want to thank everyone that was thinking and praying for us as well.